This week Edgewater Stonemasons began masonry repairs to the Church of the Good Thief in Portsmouth Village, Kingston. Work will focus on the buttresses lining both sides of the nave, as well as repointing and consolidating the bell tower.
The Church of the Good Thief was designed by Irish architect Joseph Connolly and construction completed in 1894 at a cost of $14,297. The Kingston Limestone in which the church was built was quarried by inmates from the Penitentiary and carried to the building site. Each man was paid a wage of .25c per day.
The church is named after St. Dismas, who was crucified with Jesus Christ and is said to be the only man canonized by Him. For many years this was the only church in the world named after Dismas.